Toronto Film Review: 'Dallas Buyers Club'

September 07, 2013|Peter Debruge | Variety

Any doubt that still exists in audiences' minds as to Matthew McConaughey's talents as an actor are permanently put to rest by "Dallas Buyers Club," in which the 6-foot Texan star sheds 38 pounds to play Ron Woodruff, the unlikely mastermind behind a scheme to circumvent the FDA by delivering unapproved treatments to AIDS patients during the late '80s. But McConaughey's is not the only performance of note in this riveting -- and surprisingly relatable -- true story, which co-stars Jared Leto as his transvestite accomplice. Rave reviews for the both actors should draw mainstream auds to one of the year's most vital and deserving indie efforts.

Nearly 20 years after launching his career as a hayseed hunk in "Dazed and Confused" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation," McConaughey subverts that same macho image by playing a redneck bigot who becomes the unlikely savior to a generation of gay men frightened by a disease they don't yet understand. Woodruff was straight -- which the film makes abundantly clear in his undiminished pursuit of any woman who crosses his path -- and reprehensibly homophobic to boot, but his newfound outcast status inspired a sense of empathy toward his HIV-positive peers that not only motivates his actions but serves as this exceptionally well-handled pic's most valuable takeaway.

Certainly, what makes the character so interesting is the way that a man so driven by selfishness could undergo such a reversal after his own life was threatened. Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack's screenplay wastes little time in getting to Woodruff's diagnosis: After a workplace accident lands him in the hospital, Woodruff learns that he has HIV from a pair of doctors (Dennis O'Hare and Jennifer Garner) on the brink of implementing a new double-blind AZT trial among their patients at Dallas Mercy. Since best estimates give him only 30 days to live, Woodruff decides he can't risk ending up in the placebo group and devises a way to scam some of the drug for himself.

After a second near-death experience south of the border, Woodruff realizes that AZT only makes his condition worse (especially when combined with his steady diet of cocaine, booze and methamphetamines), leading him to experiment with a cocktail of potential remedies not yet sanctioned by the FDA. If there's a villain in the real-world version of this story, it's the virus. For the sake of dramatic conflict, however, the film pits Woodruff against two of the biggest forces in American society -- the government (represented by the FDA) and the corporate sector ("Big Pharma") -- positioning him as the rule-breaking Robin Hood who circumvents their profit-oriented practices in order to get effective treatments into the hands of people.

On one hand, the drug companies are shown conspiring with hospitals like Dallas Mercy to rush AZT through the system, even when research points to the medicine's immunity-lowering side effects. At the same time, the FDA appears to be dragging out the approval process on other promising options, which means thousands will die before existing products get approved. For a detailed look at activist citizens' struggle against these entities, last year's "How to Survive a Plague" does the trick, while "Dallas Buyers Club" unfolds almost like a crazy heist movie: It's the story of how one incredibly motivated creep managed to circumvent the system and redeem himself in the process.

Canadian helmer Jean-Marc Vallee (best known for real-feeling coming-of-ager "C.R.A.Z.Y.") makes no effort to polish Woodruff's unrefined and frequently offensive worldview (his opening line is a slur against Rock Hudson, with many unflattering epithets to follow). Meanwhile, McConaughey commits to the character so fully, he never lets himself off the hook with that apologetic wink so often tossed off when actors play someone whose politics they don't necessarily share.

The role calls for nothing short of full immersion, and the star -- whose recent roles in everything from "Magic Mike" to "Mud" have shown his commitment to total transformation -- comes on almost unrecognizable, apart from his charisma: a bony scarecrow of a man with shaggy brown hair and a Freddy Mercury moustache. His Woodruff is a bull-riding, chain-smoking good ol' boy who might never have justified his existence on earth if not for the way he responds to this particular adversity, and yet, his coarse, nothing-to-lose personality makes him the only person who could have turned such a seemingly hopeless ssituation to his advantage.